July 2006

Well this month I have been taking part in some of the activities which are part of Keighley Festival. There was the Race the Train activity and also the KActive (short for Keighley Active)event.

The KActive event was held in the Town Hall Square. Its purpose was to get more people involved in cycling and skateboarding and other physical activities that are being organised in various community settings in the area. This event was open to all of the public. A number of the Health Apprentice were involved in this event and it was attended by a number of trick cyclists but not so many skateboarders. (Some pictures are available on the website) In fact, Amreen (the other PCT Health Apprentice) and I went around into town and to the Keighley Train Station to make more people aware of what is happening in Town Hall Square but we didn't find many young people to tell.

There also the Race the Train Event which was on the following Sunday. It was from Keighley to Oxenhope and the cyclists had to race against the train and see if they could get to Oxenhope station before the train did . It took only 13 minutes for the first person to get to Oxenhope-they had beaten the train. I was a marshal and it was a bit scary, as I didn't want to give out the wrong directions to the cyclists and I had to be aware that some of the cyclists on the road might not actually be taking part in this event!!!!
The people who did take part were mostly first timers but there were some who do take part each year. (Both men and women were involved, although the majority were men)
The whole event was only for a maximum of an hour and I think that it went really well. I really got the feel of what goes into an event like this, in terms of organising and managing it, and I enjoyed myself.